Favorite Romance Tropes Staff Picks (2/25/26)

We are celebrating the month of love with some of our favorite romance book tropes!

AMANDA’S PICK: SCANDAL OF THE SUMMER BY ALEXANDRA VASTI (MISTAKEN IDENTITY)

Coming off her recent LibraryReads pick for THE HALIFAX HELLIONS, Alexandra Vasti returns with another hilarious, sexy, and moving Regency romp. An eccentric heiress can never manage to say the right thing for society, so she and her two friends decide to pretend to be ladies-in-waiting to an absent princess and fake an invitation to stay the summer at her holiday house, but when they arrive they find a con-artist crew posing as staff at the abandoned estate to hide their smuggling scheme. They are determined to frighten away the uninvited guests, who are just as determined to stay, and sparks fly between the rakish pirate and the debutante who can see right through him. The mistaken/hidden identity tension is just delicious as they both try their hardest to convince each other, and hilarious hijinks ensue, followed closely with true emotional connection.  A wonderful read.

EMILY’S PICK: YOU WON’T FORGET ME BY MAZEY EDDINGS (FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS)

LibraryReads Hall-of-Famer Mazey Eddings is back with a lyrical, sapphic, friends-to-lovers romance! All Cubby Clark wants is to make music, but when her boyfriend and lead of the band abandons the group, her only comforts are her best friends and fellow bandmates, Darcy and Harry. When an inadvertently romantic picture of Cubby and Harry goes viral the same night Cubby and Darcy hook up, the band finds themselves on a whirlwind tour and in the center of the tabloids, as the media eats up their rumored love triangle. Under the pressure of newfound notoriety, an extremely dirty tour bus, and long buried feelings, Cubby has one summer to unravel the truth of her feelings. I loved Mazey’s previous sapphic romance, LATE BLOOMER, and this one is similarly about complicated first love, friendships, and finding yourself. Mazey has an incredible voice and brings characters to life in a way that makes you feel for them, cheer for them, and love them.

MARGO’S PICK: BURNOUT SUMMER BY JENNA RAMIREZ

(FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS)

The cold weather is certainly starting to get old, and if there’s one thing I need, it’s a summer escape—and Jenna Ramirez’s new debut, BURNOUT SUMMER, was the perfect one to dive into. Camille is four years post graduation, and everything is falling apart. She’s losing her friends, she’s in debt, she’s completely burnt out from her corporate job, and now her spiraling has left her spending a night in jail. Enter Danny: the loveable slacker of their college friend group who saves her and offers her an out with a summer escape at his new seaside restaurant in Rhode Island. From restaurant shifts to sunny beach days and reignited passions, Camille finds herself slowly falling for the friend she never took seriously. But summer is creeping to an end, and now she must decide which life to choose—this new one with Danny, or the one she always had planned for. This is the beachy friends-to-lovers romance of my dreams, complete with a mid-twenties breakdown and a slow, soft, and steamy love story. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it’s set in Rhode Island, one of my favorite places to be (especially in the heat of summer)!

HALLIE’S PICK: THE SHIPPERS BY KATHERINE CENTER (SECOND CHANCE)

One of the fastest-rising stars in the rom-com world delivers her latest swoon-worthy escape, trading land for the high seas in a story brimming with umbrella drinks and Katherine Center’s signature blend of heart and hijinks. After Josephine’s wedding is called off, she is unexpectedly rescued by Cooper, her estranged childhood friend returning from a four-year absence in London. Forced together on a cruise for her sister’s destination wedding, the pair must navigate a sea of misunderstandings and meddling family members that threaten to capsize their reunion. There is something uniquely soul-stirring about a second-chance romance, and THE SHIPPERS sets a perfect course for true love.